Top Medical School Uses Syngene Ingenius System to Pinpoint Microorganisms Associated With Chronic Digestive Diseases

2/3/2012 9:41:12 AM

Frederick, MD: Syngene, a world-leading manufacturer of image analysis sol-
utions, is delighted to announce its InGenius gel imaging system is being used by
scientists at the University of Glasgow in the UK to determine the types of micro-
organisms associated with Crohn's Disease and Celiac Disease.

Researchers in the School of Medicine at the University of Glasgow are using a
Syngene InGenius gel doc system to visualize microbial DNA stained with SYBR®
Green on Temporal Temperature Gradient Electrophoresis polyacrylamide gels.
The information obtained is being used to determine which microflora are
associated with Crohn's Disease and Celiac Disease in children and could help to determine the most effective methods to treat and control these conditions.

Dr Konstantinos Gerasimidis, Lecturer in Clinical Nutrition at the School of
Medicine, University of Glasgow commented: “We are looking for microbes in
children suffering with digestive diseases and are trying to determine those most
prevalent in their colonic samples. For that we use a variety of molecular micro-
biology techniques such as Temporal Temperature Gradient Electrophoresis Gels
stained with SYBR Green Nucleic Acids Staining. We prefer to use SYBR Green
for visualizing the DNA, rather than Ethidium bromide because it is significantly
more sensitive and less toxic.”

Dr Gerasimidis continued: “We decided to upgrade our gel doc to an InGenius
system because we have found it is more sensitive than other imagers we looked
at in the same price range. We can easily visualize our DNA so we’re pleased we
chose an InGenius.”

Laura Sullivan, Syngene’s Divisional Manager, concluded: “Establishing the
potential causes of chronic digestive diseases is critical research and we are
excited to hear that the InGenius is playing a part in this. The results researchers at University of Glasgow are obtaining, demonstrate to molecular biologists looking for an inexpensive system to safely and accurately image their DNA, that all they need is an InGenius.”

Syngene is a world-leading supplier of integrated imaging solutions for analysis and documentation of gel-based information. Syngene’s systems are used by more than 10,000 research organizations and over 50,000 individual scientists world-wide and include many of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies and major research institutes.

Syngene, founded in 1997 is a division of the Cambridge based Synoptics Group. The Group’s other divisions, Syncroscopy and Synbiosis, specialize in digital imaging solutions for microscopy and microbial applications respectively. Synoptics currently employs over 40 people in its UK and subsidiary operation in Frederick, USA.

About the School of Medicine

The School of Medicine at the University of Glasgow is one of the largest and most prestigious medical schools in Europe with over 170 postgraduate research students involved in a wide range of research subject areas including human nutrition, pediatric endocrinology, cancer biomarkers as well as research in medical education and e-learning.

The School is recognized within the University and externally for its innovative and distinctive basic science, translational and clinical research programs in medicine, dentistry and nursing and healthcare based on interdisciplinary and a multi-professional approach. The interface with the NHS partners is critical to the School of Medicine’s research strategy and comprises a key element for translating basic science discoveries into clinical practice.